White Flag
by ljubav1986
Summary: Nikola reflects on his failed attempts to win Helen.  Set throughout the series, and stays within canon for now.  Think of it as Sanctuary from Nikola's POV.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **My inspiration for this was Dido's White Flag. Also, thank you Sailor's Wife for nudging me to finish this. It is way too tempting to get distracted by big books with lots of tiny words and no pictures… Anyway, please tell me what you think. I'm just starting to write again, and I'd love to hear feedback!

**Disclaimer:** None of it is mine. If it was, they would have already announced a season 5.

"White Flag"

Nikola was still alive, and he was still in Rome. It had taken a good while to heal from Johnny Dear's fist through the gut. As a vampire, he was notoriously difficult to kill, but he had to admire the effort Druitt had put into trying. It was almost sweet really, how willing Druitt was to put his vocational skills to work for Helen. Nikola scowled as he took another sip of tea.

He spent his days researching and his nights in a corner of the Riccioli Café, doing his best to wipe out the famous wine cellar's collection of older vintages. It was not quite the atmosphere he preferred—a little too neon and loud at night for his tastes—but the wine made up for it. He had wanted to bring Helen here: the wine selection was superb, and they served oysters. The possibilities were endless. In the decades he had waited for her, he had so many plans and dreams stored away for them…. Not for the first time, he wished that alcohol still affected his physiology. It would help him forget about the latest in a string of setbacks that spanned two lifetimes.

It had been a brilliant plan: save Helen's life and then declare his love for her. Unfortunately, she had caught on far too quickly that the threat was aimed at him and not her. Then there was the bit with his brainless vampire army. That was going to take her awhile to get over, probably at least a few decades, given her hesitancy to trust anyone since Druitt.

He was currently seated outside the café across the street from his hotel, his laptop open in front of him. He had to let Helen know he was still alive, let her know that he was serious about what he had told her in the catacombs. At the same time, he couldn't get close enough for her to actually try to kill him again. As much as what was left of his Victorian sensibilities detested email, it seemed to be the best solution to his problem. He opened up a screen and started typing…

* * *

><p>My Dearest Helen,<p>

I know that after what happened in Rome I am the last person you expected—let alone wanted—to hear from. Johnny tried so hard to kill me for you, it was so sweet. Fortunately for me, he failed. So yes, I am still alive.

Trying to kill you wasn't really part of my plan when I decided to confess my love to you. I fear that I have made quite a mess of things. As difficult as this is for you to hear, though, I think you should know that I really do love you. I may be a conceited, evil bastard at times, but that doesn't keep me from loving you; that will never change.

I'm not asking for things to go back to the way they were. True, for the last sixty years we have each pretended that the other didn't exist, so I suppose things ARE going to go back to how they were. I meant how they were back in Oxford, before the Five, before everything changed. Do you remember all those night staying up almost until dawn poring over research? Or that time we ran into each other in Vienna? All of that was before the change, before I made such a mess of everything that I couldn't hope for you to forgive me.

I truly don't expect you to ever talk to me again. I'm not trying to make things even more difficult for you; there is so much going on with the Kabal that you cannot be distracted by me. I just wanted you to know that I'm not giving up. You can hate me for a hundred lifetimes, and I will still be waiting. I'm in love, and always will be.

-Nikola

* * *

><p>He read over the email he had just written. It was not at all how he wanted to tell her those things, but the conventional means of going about it had been failing him since 1865.<p>

"Tesla," a voice behind him growled. He partially vamped out and spun around to see who was foolish enough to sneak up on him.

It was one of his contacts here in the city; not the concierge at his hotel, but a real contact with ties to the underground network of Abnormals. "What is it?" Nikola clipped, trying not be too rude to the bearer of intelligence.

"Have you been in contact with the Sanctuary?"

"Not since the last time, when they tried to kill me," he hissed. "What is going on?"

"Word is that the Kabal is planning to launch a virus that turns all Abnormals into human killers. The outbreak started in Alaska last week…" The Abnormal had fear in his eyes.

Tesla growled. "Helen and company are undoubtedly looking for a solution."

"So far, apparently they don't have anything. Dr. Watson is on his way to the Old City sanctuary from London. Druitt is there too." Nikola's eyes narrowed. James rarely travelled anymore; he most certainly wouldn't willingly subject himself to Druitt unless he had no other choice. His mind whirred, and suddenly everything fell into place.

"Thank you, Greg, I owe you one." He really did owe Greg if this actually worked. The Abnormal nodded and slipped back into the shadows. Nikola opened a new browser window and started looking for flights from Rome to Janakpur. It was possible that Helen and the others hadn't yet realized their only shot at developing a cure for the virus was to retrieve the source blood from Bhalasaam. If that was the case, Nikola could beat them down to the caverns. He had been there often enough over the past 50 years or so that he knew where he was going, even in the ruins of what had once been the one of the wonders of the ancient world. He allowed himself a small sigh, a moment to grieve for the loss of the last enclave of vampires on earth.

Helen may not want to see him after what had happened last month, but it would take all five of them, or, all four and whoever Helen rounds up to take Nigel's place, to retrieve the source blood. He would find a way to make things right in his own way.

He took another look at the email he had composed, and hit the Delete key.


	2. Chapter 2

**I wasn't going to continue this story, but I thought of a few more places in the time line where I could play with Nikola's thoughts. Sorry, this is short and a bit more angsty than I had planned. Review and I will give you Nikola in Mexico. Does that sound better?**

"Whatever the Cabal has done to Ashley, it's obvious that the source blood is a key element. We need to find a way to interfere with it." Nikola realized that Helen was starting at him as if she expected him to have an answer to this unthinkable problem. She couldn't be asking what he thought she was….

"You mean a weapon?" He was hoping that she wasn't about to ask him to create the weapon that would kill her own daughter. Although he barely knew Ashley, she meant the world to Helen. And Helen meant the world to him. Destroy Ashley would, by proxy, destroy himself.

"Yes." Dammit.

"Helen!" Druitt was even more displeased about this plan than Nikola was. Was Jack the Ripper growing a heart? Miracles never would cease….

"To disable her. Neutralize her powers." Nikola inwardly groaned. Making a weapon that would disable, but not kill, something as powerful and as genetically altered as Ashley had become was going to be impossible. Helen was literally asking the impossible of him, and he could do nothing but try to give it to her. He would fail. But as much as he hated failure, he would do it for Helen.

"Doc, I'm totally on board with all this, but we have no idea how much they've messed with her genetic make-up. Making a weapon to stop her, it kinda feels like a shot in the dark."

_You don't say, wolf-boy_, Nikola thought. Aloud, he continued, "Not to mention neutralizing the effects of the source blood, or any mind control drugs, it could kill her outright." He had to err on the other side of failure. If the weapon wasn't going to neutralize her, it couldn't kill her. It had to just…not work. He was already calculating the energy dosages….

"Then make certain it doesn't."

"I'll need two weeks." _Or two lifetimes. Whatever is more convenient. Of course, you're going to give me about two hours._

"We don't have that. You'll have every resource available, Nikola. I want a working prototype ready immediately. Henry, you'll assist."

Nikola had already tuned out the conversation. He had forced his way back into Helen's life in Bahlasaam as planned. Since then he had helped her retrieve the source blood, created a cure for the Lazarus virus, and spent weeks trotting the globe making sure it reached the affected Abnormals. And while Nikola had been saving the planet, Helen had been searching it with Druitt. For their daughter. Druitt had one the first round of their fight for Helen Magnus. It was beginning like he might claim this one, as well. The vampire took a moment and reminded himself of his position in this. Not. Giving. Up. Even if Druitt won his way back into her affections this time around, Nikola had all eternity to wait for her.

"…every second is critical. Work fast, gentlemen." Nikola watched her storm out of the room, Johnny on her heels. He honestly tried not to listen to the conversation in the hallway, but he couldn't help but hear snippets.

"Spare me!" Helen spat at Druitt, clearly not in the mood to hear it.

"You are intent on going to war while I am pushing for compromise." Nikola had missed that part of the conversation in the study. Druitt was fighting a war, all right, just maybe a different one than Helen.

"So we surrender every Abnormal under our protection? I don't think so." No, Magnus would never surrender. She was almost too much like Nikola. When she decided something was important to her, she didn't give up on it. Unfortunately, that stubbornness had been misplaced for over 100 years…

"How dare you! You think your sentiments come from some generous place? They do not. It's pure ego!" Or maybe he was wrong. Maybe Helen was finally getting past whatever she had with John so long ago….

"Ashley and I did fine on our own. Don't waste your time on the past." Nikola almost felt…hope.

"You misunderstand me. Again. My regret is not that I wasn't here to change nappies or watch her take her first steps. It's what I gave her. What the Cabal has summoned from within her. The gifts she inherited from me. My blood-lust." It made sense, though Nikola still found it hard to believe that John had always been a cold-hearted killer. Something had snapped in the man.

The voices trailed off and Nikola tried to return his thoughts to this weapon he was supposed to design. This wasn't the first time Helen had put Ashley's life in his hands. He would never forget the day she told him and James that she was pregnant, and asked them to help her freeze the embryo. Nikola was tasked with designing the containment chamber. He had never been more afraid of failing in his life. When Helen had finally delivered a healthy baby girl, he let out the breath he hadn't realized he had been holding for over 60 years.

He helped bring Ashley into this world. He could only hope that he wasn't responsible for taking her out of it, as well….


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: So, pathetically short, I know. I need to write more, and more often, and things that aren't for law school. Feel free to threaten me if wait this long before posting ever again, okay? Okay. **

**This is the first part of what I am going to write around Sleepers. I haven't decided how to write the second half, though. Does he think of what happens as another epic failure in his quest to win Helen, or the first time that things have started to turn in his favor? Because I can see it going either way. **

**Reviews are love 3**

* * *

><p><em>Well, that went swimmingly.<em> Nikola was perched on a chair in his new research laboratory in Mexico, going over the events of the last few months.

_Let's see. _

_Goals:_

_Come to Helen's aid _

_Create a cure for the Lazarus virus_

_Win Helen's undying love._

_Results: _

_Check_

_Check_

_Complicit in killing Helen's only child and proving himself to be a monster by helping Johnny slaughter half the Cabal._

Building the weapon for Helen had been every bit as much of a bad idea as he had expected. Of course his efforts to create a weapon to disable her had failed. What he had never intended was that she would then give him the power to create a weapon that would be fully effective. He knew that he hadn't actually caused her death, that she had chosen it by teleporting into the EM shield. That didn't keep him from feeling like he failed at protecting Helen, protecting that which was most important to her.

Oh, and the killing spree. Helen wasn't totally aware of his role in that. She knew he and Johnny had taken care of the rest of the Cabal, but he doubted she realized how they had done it. Slowly, carefully. Even after the Cabal had ceased to be a viable threat, they continued to hunt, wanting to extract every drop of blood they could from anyone who was a part of what had happened to Ashley. It was vengeance, plain and simple.

He kept his promise that he had made to Helen years ago, after the source blood had changed him. He had spilled an unforgiveable amount of blood, but drank none of it. Even if he hadn't grown accustomed to being around human blood over the years, he wouldn't have wanted any part of them inside of him, nourishing him. His own rage kept him well fed over the month or so he had worked with Druitt. Nikola still hated the man, but he understood him a little bit better now.

So, no. Number three had not gone well.

_Let's just call it even and move on. _He ran his fingers through the spiky mess that was his hair, turning his attention to the work in front of him. If he wasn't going to have an eternity with Helen anytime soon, he might as well turn his efforts to repopulating the earth with his race.

The brainless monsters from Rome were a bad idea. He was moving too quickly. This new plan was a long-term commitment, but what was 30 years? He had been waiting for Helen for three times that long; it seemed like a short time to wait for the DNA latencies to emerge in his patients.

_It really is a brilliant plan—the children of the most powerful people in the world come to me for drug treatment, and I not only cure them, but make them BETTER. And the best part is that Helen isn't around to tell me what a bad idea it is!_

* * *

><p>Six months later….<p>

There was a knock on his office door.

"What!" He snapped, focused on his research. The door opened, slowly, and his gorgeous-yet-clueless receptionist opened the door.

"Dr. Baumschlager, there is someone here to see you." He looked up, puzzled. He wasn't expecting any new intakes, and he had tried very hard to stay unnoticed this time around.

"Who?"

"They did not give names. It is a woman and a young man. The woman has long dark hair, British accent. They boy—"

"Too much hair gel, vacant expression? Tell them I'll be right out." Nikola smiled his widest Cheshire cat smile as she left the room.

_Damn_, he thought, not the least bit upset. _She found out so much sooner than I had anticipated._ He gathered himself and strode down the hall to the reception area.

His insides did a backflip when he saw Helen. Covering it, he spread his arms wide in greeting to the pair who looked completely unsurprised and slightly annoyed to find that the famed Dr. Baumschlager was actually Tesla. "Hola, amigos!"


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Sooo…I was going to finish Sleepers in one more chapter, but this feels fairly complete on its own and I am at least a few days away from having time to work on it again, so instead I will drag it out for another chapter. Maybe two. I mean, a lot happens for Tesla to narrate. Reviews are love!**

"Nikola, we're not here for the tour." Helen had THAT tone in her voice as they stood on the balcony overlooking the Mexican beaches. That dangerous, part angry, part annoyed, part impatient tone that Nikola had become quite familiar with over the past century. There was a fifty-fifty chance when that tone was aimed at him that he would end up being shot.

_How could she _not_ know how hot she is when she's angry? She may be here to foil my plan to resurrect the vampire race, but, foil on…_

He assumed his accent, which he knew would only infuriate her more. "I noticed you do seem a bit on edge. Might I suggest one of our green tea detox massages? It makes you feel one hundred again…"

_Maybe she'll smack me…or better yet, take me up on the offer…_ He shook himself off that train of thought. _Focus, Nikola._

"We know what's going on here." _Still, the tone. If Helen wants to play this game, then fine. I still remember the rules. _They had been going on about this cat-and-mouse routine for so long that he was fairly certain the only reason either of them did it was for the sport. Nikola concocted some dangerous experiment, Helen came and stopped him. _It's what we do. _

Nikola dropped the accent and matched Helen's annoyed tone. "Well I don't like the tone of your voice."

Huggybear decided to finally join the party. "Well, WE don't like being lied to, so…" _We? We? There is no "we" Huggybear. You really need to stop making yourself out to be equal to Helen Magnus, because it will never happen in your pathetically short lifetime. And why does Helen ALWAYS have to bring the children?_

Nikola let out a long, exaggerated sigh. "Why are you people always so ready to think the worst of me?" The look of bemusement between Helen and Will was not lost on the vampire. "You've seen my facilities for yourself."

"You don't honestly expect us to believe that you are running a detox clinic?" _ Maybe Helen _doesn't _know what I'm doing. Did I finally get a step ahead? And, hey! This IS a detox clinic. It just so happens that I cure them of their addictions by turning them into dormant vampires. It would be so like them to focus on the method rather than the results…Oh, I think Huggybear just said something. Eh, knowing him it was a snarky remark about what I get out of this philanthropic project. I'll just run with it._

"I never said I wasn't making a profit. And in return, I provide a public service." Nikola turned to Helen, expectantly. Her hands were on her hips, and she looked equally apprehensive and dangerous.

"I'm waiting," she managed to get out. This was the part where she discovers what experiments he is conducting this time around.

"Wealthy parents ship their drug-addled teenagers to me. They arrive, their poor little bodies wracked by the best designer drugs trust funds can buy. It breaks your heart. But then, after one week of my treatment, I send them home to mater and pater completely cured of all addictions." _Genius, really. Pure genius. _

"Whoah, one week?" _I just said that, Huggybear._

"Mhmm."

"That's impossible." _Which part of "I'm a genius" aren't you getting? _

"Less ego, more facts, please." _Wait, had I said that last part out loud? At least the deadly part of Helen's voice has been replaced with a bit of a smile._

"Alright. Do you remember that weapon I invented to combat the Cabal's superabnormals?"

"Yes. All too well." _Damn. I need to work on filtering. So, Helen, do you remember the weapon that you asked me to create to kill your only child? Smooth._

He explained to Helen the science behind his modification of the weapon, his grin growing more incorrigible by the moment. He was dancing around what she wanted to know, and they both knew it. Helen eventually quite literally threw her hands up with an exasperated "Enough!" The next part surprised him, though. "Whatever you've done to these young people, Nikola, they're disappearing." His face fell a bit.

"As in…?"

"Something's killing them, and stealing their bodies." _Wait. They _don't _know. And, hey! I was working on a thirty year plan. Who sped up the process? _

He did his best to feign surprise. "You don't say…"

Helen was unconvinced. "C'mon. Out with it." _Oh, she knows. _She started to pace closer to him. He idly wondered if she were about to shoot him. "I want to hear you say the words." _I love you? No, that most definitely would get me shot at this point._

She always did figure out what he was up to. Of course, he was fairly predictable. Resurrect vampires, create a deadly weapon, threaten the human race with a botched electrical experiment. It was usually some variation of one or more of the three.

"All right. I may have…sort of…"

"Spill it, Nikola." _She's hot when she's mad. But this is SUCH a good story. It deserves to be stretched out._ His grin spread.

"…turned them into vampires." His grin widened more as he watched her anger fade, replaced with unsurprised bemusement and just a hint of wonder….


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: This skips around a lot, because otherwise I'd never get through Sleepers. Also, points to whoever can tell me how the hell Nikola got the devamper into that bottle of wine?**

"Vampires," Helen said to Kate over the phone.

_She says it like it's a swear word,_ Nikola pouted.

"Yeah. It seems Nikola's been up to his usual selfish tricks," she continued.

_I kind of deserve that. But, I don't want _her _to think I deserve it. I'm already about a thousand points behind and rapidly losing. _

"Oh, I'm selfish," he defended himself, unable to think of a more compelling comeback. His brilliant plan cannot have been as brilliant as he thought it would be if that kid was able to ruin the entire thing by killing all the other subjects prematurely.

"Shocking, I know."

_Hey, sarcasm. Her mood is definitely improving. It's because I'm here!_

"Because I tried to save my race from extinction," he pointed out. It really wasn't that ignoble a goal, as far as crazy scientific plots went.

"Because you used innocent children in a potentially deadly experiment."

_Okay, ouch! You make me sound like the Cabal. Which might be why you don't like me much right now. But how does that explain the last 150 years of not liking me? Oh, Will's chiming in._

"Eh, professional jealousy." He threw his arms out as if there was nothing else to discuss.

"You've no idea what you've unleashed," Helen pointed out, just in time for them all to see a trio of teenagers in sunglasses emerge from behind a tractor trailer. "Ahh, let me guess. This must be your graduating class." Nikola was riveted, forgetting Helen and marveling at his success, even if the timing was off.

"Incredible! It worked." Two of them grabbed Nikola's arms.

"You're coming with us."

_Oh, good. They're feisty. I love a good fight._ Nikola vamped out.

"But you didn't say please," he schooled them, as the fight began. Rather than joining in, he stood back and watched, admiring his creations in action as they fought Helen and Will.

Until he was hit by a car, that is.

* * *

><p>"Yeah, well, life's a bitch and then you don't die," he told the three teenage vampires.<p>

_This was a bad idea. Such a bad idea. I've had a lot of bad ideas, but this one is the worst. These children are insane, and they actually have the power to do very real damage. They think they can just rush in and take over by force? They may have brute strength, but they clearly don't understand vampires OR humans. They will lose. _

They drew closer to him in a semi-circle. He vamped out again, this time to fight them rather than watch them. They clearly didn't know what they were getting themselves into.

Then he was thrown off a 50 story skyscraper and landed on a car.

He was immortal and all, but that had broken just about every bone in his body. He groaned and stretched it out.

"Oh I hate them," he growled to no one in particular. "I hate them all."

_Maybe I can stall them until Helen finds it. If she finds it. She wouldn't leave me to die, would she? Would she?_

* * *

><p>He looked up from telling war stories to see Helen come around the corner.<p>

_I knew she wouldn't leave me to die! Well, I knew she wouldn't let a bunch of teenage vampires take over the world and that saving my skin would probably be part of the bargain. I need to play this cool for the peanut gallery. _

"Helen," he said, like she was an old friend he hadn't seen in awhile. She didn't notice one the teen vampires behind her and he grabbed her before she could do anything.

"Struggle and he'll break your arms," Nikola warned her.

_Really. This is the second time in what, a year, that my marvelous, disastrous creation has pitted me against Helen. I need to stop running into her like this. _The others walked in with Will and Kate.

"Well, well, well, the appetizers have arrived." He was reasonably certain that this time Helen knew he was only acting in order to keep a degree of control over the situation.

"This is the last time I come to your rescue!" she spat at him. He laughed a bit inside. That's what she said last time. And the time before that, and the time before that.

"I'm sorry to say that's true." He raised his wine glass. "Tie them up. And no feeding 'til I say so." _Which will be never, just so you all know._

Helen looked at him with disbelief as she was hauled away with the others. _I should have had them stash her away separately from the children. Helen, tied up in a room alone. That has the potential to go so very, very right. And it seems like it might almost be her thing. I don't think she's ever going to love me at the rate I'm screwing things up, but hate sex might actually be a possibility. Maybe my standards are set a little too high. Forget winning her heart, for now. Forget reinventing the vampire race. I'm just going to focus on frustrating her until she finally decides to take it all out on me by doing something other than shooting me. It's not a brilliant plan, but I think it's one I can achieve rather easily, and it comes with significant benefits. _

He drained his glass of wine. "It's good to be king again."

* * *

><p>Nikola strode into the storage room the Helen and the children were being kept in.<p>

"It's about time!" Helen snapped.

"Before you thank me," he began.

"Thank you?" Helen said, incredulously. He ignored her.

"You're welcome. I want you to know that I just saved all of your lives."

"Really?" Will asked. "You expect us to believe that?"

"What, you didn't believe that little display out there? That was just melodrama for the peanut gallery,"

"Well, then let's end all this stupidity right now," Helen suggested. Kate agreed, vehemently.

Instead of untying them, Nikola leaned down towards them. "What is it with kids these days?" Kate lunged at him uselessly.

_Okay, enough games._ He turned to Helen. "Alright, where is it?" She looked at him expectantly. "My failsafe. The 45 Bordeaux, tell me you brought it." _I can't imagine she would have come without it._

Helen's face softened and for the first time since she had arrived in Mexico, she didn't look ready to kill him. "You were taking an awful risk that we'd find it." She admonished.

"Yes, but Helen, we've known each other for 100+ years, you'd think I know your mind by now." He gave her his most devastating smile. _It's never too early to put my plan in action._

She gestured to her jacket. "Left side." He knelt down to retrieve it, reveling in the moment.

"I've often wondered what this moment would be like. Me, you tied up. It's a shame you brought the children." He leaned closer to her. He saw dirty flash through her eyes and then quickly it disappeared.

"Focus, Nikola," He retrieved the devamper from her pocket. He explained how the weapon worked and then left them to take care of the latest mess he had created.

He was right about one thing: creating that dormant vampire gene had been a very, very bad idea. Or was it the best idea he'd ever had?

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><p><strong>To be continued…<strong>


End file.
